


Can't Take No More

by ofasingle_rose



Category: One day at a time - Fandom, odaat
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Blood, Domestic Violence, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Self Harm, odaat - Freeform, one day at a time, suicide threat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 08:29:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17915369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofasingle_rose/pseuds/ofasingle_rose
Summary: "One day I had to take those keys away from him because he told me he was going to wrap himself around a tree."What happened that night.





	Can't Take No More

**Author's Note:**

> haha... yeah im not sorry

It had started out as a good day. 

 

“Victor you need help! You can’t keep going on like this!”

 

He had been attentive and loving.

 

“Jesus fucking christ Penelope!  Just give me the keys!”

 

Had even taken them all out for ice cream.

 

“You know I can’t do that!”

 

Had laughed with her for the first time in who knows how long… now his eyes were angry, his voice sharp and loud,  _ and thank God mami had taken the kids out to the park. _

 

“Give me the fucking keys Lupe!”

 

She knew he had been drinking... maybe popped a couple pills too...

 

“Victor please! You can’t go out like this!”

 

She was shaking. Her face red with tears. From fear or sadness, she couldn’t tell. When had it come to this? When had she become so afraid of the man in front of her? A man that was so dear to her heart?

 

He took an angry step towards her, “Give me those fucking keys so I can wrap myself around a fucking tree! I’m doing you a fucking favor Pen! You and the kids! Can’t you see!?”

 

She could tell that he really did mean that... “No! No I can’t see! The kids don’t deserve this!  _ I  _ don’t deserve this! You can’t just leave us like that!

 

But it was like her words came in one ear and out the other.

 

“GIVE ME THE KEYS!” And the next thing she new… he had punched a hole into the wall.

 

She screamed… and it was a sad realization that it hadn’t been for the first time that week.

 

She couldn’t even recognize the man in front of her. With the deep frown and bloodied hands.

 

That wasn’t her Victor. No.

 

That was a completely different person. 

 

_ ‘It’s not his fault _ ,’ she thought. ‘ _ He saw some horrible stuff. He just needs to remember that he doesn’t need to carry all of that by himself. He just needs to remember I’m right here to help.’ _

 

She looked at him, chin trembling, eyes watering. “Amor you need help.” 

 

And before she knew what she was doing she ran out and locked the door. Victor was right behind her pounding the door.

 

“ABRE LA MALDITA PUERTA LUPE!”

 

“This isn’t you!” she cried. 

 

“LET ME OUT!”

 

She winced with every shake of the door and every loud crash, but she didn’t dare move from her place. Instead she took out her phone and texted her mom.

 

**_Mami_ **

 

**_Victor’s drunk_ **

 

**_Please take the kids to tias’ house_ **

 

**_Spend the night over there_ **

 

Then she dialed.

 

“911 what’s your emergency?”

 

“My husband is drunk and threatening to kill himself. I locked him in our apartment but I’m scared he might do something stupid. He already punched a hole in the wall and I can hear him throwing stuff in there. ”

 

“Give me your name and  location please.”

 

“Penelope Alvarez. Figueroa Apartments in Echo Park. Number 22.”

 

“Alright don’t hang up. Help is on the way.”

 

“Thank you,” she sobbed. “Please hurry.”

 

It took them about five minutes to get there. All the while Penelope had to endure Victor’s screaming and cursing and kicking. She tried to remember what it was like before… but it was so hard when all she could hear were obscenities directed at her.

 

“This isn’t you,” she kept saying. “You’re gonna get better. You just need a little help and we can go back to the way it was… This isn’t you.”

 

Those five minutes felt like an eternity.

 

He made such a scene when they carried him out. Gnashing and scratching and screaming at the EMTs. So much that they had to sedate him. So much that Penelope was surprised none of the neighbors came out to see.

 

They asked her a bunch of questions.

 

“Has this happened before?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Does he have a tendency to drink?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Do you know if he uses any other substances?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Which ones?”

 

“Mostly pills.”

 

“Would you like to file charges?”

 

“No.”

 

By the end of it she was so tired, she just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. But when she walked back into her apartment and saw all of the destruction- the broken glasses, the knocked down chairs, the blood on the walls- she suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe.

 

Penelope had to get away.  She had no idea where she was headed but she had to get away. She ran down the stairs as fast as she could. Two steps at a time. 

 

She was so distraught she didn’t even notice there was somebody on their way up until she collided with them. The momentum was enough to send them both tumbling down a whole flight… He landed on his back, she landed on top of him.

 

“Ow,” the guy groaned. “Watch where you’re going. That’s going to leave a bruise.”

 

“I’m sorry,” she cried, stumbling in her efforts to get up. “I’m so sorry.”

 

Tears were running down her face for the millionth time that day but she couldn’t stop them. Her husband was in the hospital, her apartment was a mess and now she had hurt someone by being stupid. It was all too much.

 

“Hey,” she heard him say. “It’s alright. I was joking. It’s not a big deal.”

 

Her eyes widened as her brain seemed to register the voice and who it was. Schneider. The owner of the building. 

 

She cried even harder, “I’m so so sorry. Please don’t kick me out!”

 

His brows knitted in concern. “Hey it’s okay. Why would I kick you out?”

 

“Because I hurt you! I hurt you and now you’re gonna get mad and I’m so stupid oh my god.”

 

“Hey look at me.” He kneeled down to grab her shoulders and she looked up to see blue eyes behind a pair of glasses. “I’m not mad I promise. I’m mostly worried about you, are you okay?”

 

“No,” she hiccupped. Rubbed the tears from her eyes. “No I’m not okay.”

 

“Okay. Why don’t we sit down and talk about it?”

 

She wasn’t sure why she did it, after all this was Schneider. The owner of the building, the man who had hit on her the moment he met her. But he looked genuinely worried, and she felt like she was going to explode if she didn’t get things off her chest.

 

So she sat down on the steps and told him everything. Her time in the army. Her decision to re-enlist after the towers fell. But most importantly- her husband. 

 

Her husband who was so charming and funny. Her husband who fought in Afghanistan. Who hurt his head, his back and his knees in order to protect his country. Her husband with PTSD and an addiction to drugs and alcohol. Her husband who was on his way to the hospital this very second.

 

Schneider simply listened to her. He never pushed her for more information. He just nodded along and rubbed her back in comfort when she couldn’t get some words out.

 

“He’s a good man,” she said. “He’s a good man who got put in a rough situation.”

 

“I understand.” No judgement on his face. “I’ve been through something similar.”

 

“Really?”

 

“I got addicted to alcohol and drugs back when I was fifteen.”

 

She flinched. “I’m sorry to bring it up.”

 

“No it’s okay. I can talk about it now. I’ve been sober for about five years now.”

 

“Congrats,” she sniffed. 

 

“Thanks, but Pen…”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“If I may be so bold, could I give you some advice?”

 

She truly had nothing left to lose at this point.

 

“Shoot me.”

 

“You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to help themselves. Take it from someone who has met and lost many people over the past few years.”

 

She knew he was right, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. “I just don’t know what to do.”

 

“I’m not saying he’s a lost case. Nobody is... I mean, I had to go into rehab five times before it stuck...but you also need to think about your safety and your kids.”

 

She nodded. How many times had she told Victor not to drink in the house? How many times had he woke up the kids with his screaming?

 

And most importantly… how much more was she willing to put up with?

 

She loved him. God knew she loved him with all of her heart… but she was so tired of having to be the one carrying the broken pieces. The only one putting the effort into fixing them.

 

“I know,” she said. “I know.”

 

And she cried into his shoulder.

 

\------------------------------

 

She saw Victor at the hospital the next day. The kids and her mami still at her tias’ house.

 

“Lupe look I’m sorry. It’ll never happen again.”

 

“Yes it will.”

 

“No Lupe, I promise. I don’t know what got into -”

 

“I want a divorce.”


End file.
